


The Curious Case of Matchmaking Reptiles

by TheGameIsOver



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bisexual Steve Rogers, Captain America Steve Rogers/Modern Bucky Barnes, Gay Bucky Barnes, M/M, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:33:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26125048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGameIsOver/pseuds/TheGameIsOver
Summary: Bucky gets stuck in his bookstore by a bunch of reptiles. Wouldn't be so bad, except he's stuck in there with Captain America.What is a sweet boy like Bucky ever supposed to do?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 162





	The Curious Case of Matchmaking Reptiles

Bucky was stuck.

Not figuratively. Not in terms of his life and career, not in terms of finances, nothing like that. No, he was literally stuck.

That may not be a fair descriptor. He was able to move around comfortably, but he couldn't leave. Because Bucky, unfortunately, was stuck in his very own book shop.

There had been another attack on New York, this one caused by what looked like mutant alligator-chameleon hybrids. Bucky swore he saw one of them change rainbow colored as it prowled by his shop. Bucky had briefly wondered if they were psychic, but put it out of his mind as he continued shelving things. He flipped the 'Open' sign to 'Closed' as more congregated around his store. 

But it was as he walked to the back of the store when it occurred. 'It' being Captain America slamming into his shop, wrestling an alli-meleon to the ground. What the great symbol of this country hadn't realized, however, was that the buildings around Bucky's were severely weakened by the assault and the force of psychedelic reptiles slamming into them. Bucky's store, for whatever reason, was spared, until Captain America decided he needed to body-slam a giant animal into a building.

It wouldn't be a big deal, except for the fact that there were now books, bricks, and other debris layering the exit. And by all means, Captain Brilliance could probably break his way back out, if it weren't for the thirty chamelegators blocking the way. 

The creatures sat - lounged, really - on the pile of detritus and stared at the two men.

Bucky, for his part, didn't say much. Although, to be fair, he was kinda used to things like this happening. He merely opened up a book, slid on his reading glasses, and started reading, doing his best to ignore the hissing, color-changing reptiles and the giant of a man who kept pacing across the small building. 

"I'm really sorry about this." Captain America finally spoke up, clearly giving up on trying to find a way out. 

"No worries, I'm insured." Bucky muttered back, trying to keep his tone light.

"Still… you shouldn't be stuck in here. It's my fault that you're here and not safe at home." The blond man had removed his cowl after five minutes of not being able to leave, his shield tucked on his back. 

"My apartment is upstairs and probably also pretty destroyed." Bucky finally looked up and resisted the urge to step back. Captain America had come closer, leaning against the counter. His eyes were so incredibly blue, Bucky felt as though he were drowning in the ocean.

"Even worse. It's my fault you're here. I'm really sorry." Bucky sighed and shut his book. 

"Look, you're not a chameleogator, you didn't attack the city, you're not holding me hostage. In all seriousness, the only thing that's your fault is the building collapsing. If they weren't there, you could break us both out of here and we could go on our merry ways. Okay? Okay." Bucky opened his book up again, silently declaring the conversation finished.

"Being in your own home is infinitely better than being stuck in a book shop." The Good Captain muttered. Bucky closed his book again.

"This is my book shop. I run this place, and I love it with my entire soul. Honestly, the only reason I'm still down here is to make sure nothing gets even more destroyed, and you don't get eaten by one of those freaky things." Bucky scowled, ignoring the strand of hair that fell into his eye. Mr. America stared down at Bucky, apparently fixating on that one piece of hair that fell out of Bucky's bun. 

It was kinda creepy. 

"You're right. Sorry." The blond turned away, with what looked like a pout making his lower lip stick out. Bucky mentally groaned before reaching out. He grasped the other man's wrist and stopped him from turning away.

"Relax. I'm not mad. The insurance will pay for the store, and everything will be okay. In the meantime, don't you think you should let your team know where you are and what's happened to you?" Bucky leaned forward on the counter with a frown. The blond, however, seemed stuck in a trance as he looked over Bucky’s form.

“Huh? Oh, oh right. My team. That’s… a thing. Yeah, they headed the mutant things off to Staten, everything should be good.” He removed the dumb looking helmet and set it onto the counter, studying the books placed haphazardly there. 

“You’re not worried? I thought you were the team leader and everything. You should at least be a little bit concerned.” Bucky stood up straight, reaching up and pulling the band out of his hair. 

“Uh… uh, yeah. I mean, they’ve got Black Widow and Iron Man there, should be good. And Falcon. Oh, and uh… War Machine. So they’ve definitely got everything under control. If they went through a scuffle and War Machine didn’t have it handled, then I’d be concerned. But they… um… they should be good.” Captain America, for all his press abilities, just could not speak functioning human sentences around Bucky.

The younger man briefly wondered why that was, mindlessly putting his hair into a loose ponytail, combing his fingers through the strands too short to put back. 

“Well… Until they take care of the situation, you’re welcome to stay here.” Bucky smiled slightly, still trying to figure out why the Man with the Plan seemed so awkward around him.

“Thanks. I’m Steve, by the way.” The blond put his hand out, still covered in his fingerless gloves. Bucky smiled a little bigger and reached his own hand out.

“Bucky.” The larger man’s hand was warm, covered in a little bit of dirt, dust, and alien blood. Bucky didn’t really notice. 

“It’s nice to meet you. How long have you owned this store?” Steve turned his back on Bucky and started wandering up and down the aisles, giving the mutant reptiles plenty of space. 

“About six years. I’ve always loved reading and knowledge, so it made sense to open up a place for other people with the same passion to enjoy it as much as I do.” Bucky explained. He had also turned, taking off his reading glasses and setting about to make himself a cup of hot chocolate. 

With his back turned, Bucky couldn’t see the mildly confused, slightly pink face of America’s golden boy. Steve had never had a reaction to another person like this. He was flustered, baffled, startled. He was, for lack of a better word, flummoxed by the cute store owner. 

Shoulder-length brown hair, eyes like the sky before a rainstorm, and hands that looked (and felt) soft, deceptively strong and so perfect for holding. 

To say Steve was touch-starved would be an understatement. After emerging from the ice in a new century, he never really had time to get close and snuggly with people. Add that to his trust issues and the fact that everyone he knew wanted to kill him, cuddling just wasn’t in the forecast.

But this man… this beautiful, intelligent, snarky, witty, clever, sweet man made him want to hunker down with an old favorite book, a cup of tea, and several blankets. 

Maybe he was magic. Maybe he had a sort of power over Steve, the ability to break down his defenses like it was nothing. Then again, maybe that was Steve’s trust issues speaking. God knows they’ve ruined things for Steve before. 

“So… what’s your favorite book?” Steve asked, glancing at a row of books all about human nature. 

“Oh goodness… I can’t pick one. But the one I most recently finished is really good. It’s called Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I absolutely love it.” Bucky’s smile was like the sun rising over the Brooklyn Bridge. Steve couldn’t get enough of it.

“I’ve heard of it. About the angel and demon who are in love?” Steve came back around to the front counter, resting his weight on one hand as he leaned there. Not only had he heard of it, but Natasha had made him sit through the TV series. Steve had to admit he found David Tennant ungodly (pun intended) attractive. Michael Sheen, too.

“Mhm. I love the way they set it up. The yearning, the slow tension, the very idea of enemies to lovers....” Bucky sighed almost longingly. Steve wished he could hear the sound more.

“It’s very sweet. It’s also refreshing to see literature with such tangible love between two people of the same gender now.” Steve silently smacked himself. He sounded like such a buffoon. Bucky smiled sadly at him, eyes warm and sympathetic.

“Yeah. I majored in history, and I guess I just found hidden subtext in bits of information about people’s lives. Whether or not they were married, who they might have spent their time with, etcetera. It was really quite interesting and I hope to be working on my master’s thesis on how these pieces of history that are unspoken of remove the deepest meaning to who they were as people and how it could potentially allow us insight to how we view our culture in the future.” Bucky spoke all of this with barely a breath between his sentences, eyes lit up and passionate about this topic. Steve wanted to hear more about it, wanted to listen during tough nights where nothing was clicking, nothing fell into place right. Wanted to be able to decipher all of this information at Bucky’s side, offering his own two cents.

But something else was scratching at his brain that he needed to address first and foremost. 

“History, huh? Did you… did you learn about me?” Steve was, after all, a monument of walking history.

“Oh.. yeah, yeah I did. I, uh… I took an entire course dedicated to you. I may or may not have had a ‘hero worship’ thing when I was a child. I mean, I thought you were great, punching Nazis and whatnot, but I wanted to know everything behind the flag. My class didn’t really expand on that, so… ya know…” Bucky trailed off, face burning a bright pink. Steve smiled kindly down at him. He was trying to figure out a way to say what he wanted to say next, but everything in his head sounded too brash, too bold. Granted it was sudden, but Steve finally felt a genuine connection with another human being that -- for once -- wasn’t his team mate. He felt close to the man, as if they’ve lived thousands of lives together and finally could meet up in this one.

Neither man would know this, too lost in the gravity of each other’s orbit, but behind them, the reptiles that trapped them there hissed and changed into a soft, pink-white color. 

“Well… you don’t need a college class to learn about the man behind the flag. Because he’s standing right in front of you.” Steve leaned down a little, just inches away from Bucky. The younger man sighed quietly, eyes dropping closed as the anticipation for what was ever about to happen grew. 

And this was the moment, unfortunately, that the front of the building exploded. 

“Woo, that’s a lot of dust! Hey, Cap, did we interrupt something?” The mechanical sound of Tony’s voice broke through the serene calm Steve and Bucky had surrounding them, making Bucky flinch back in shock and Steve to frown as he faced his team.

“Man, were you stuck here with a bunch of freaky alligators this whole time? You missed the fight, old man.” Sam teased, punching one of the alligators in the snout as though it were a shark attached to a crunchy foot.

“Who’s this?” Natasha, in her Natasha way, had snuck up on Bucky, looking him up and down as the young brunette attempted to catch his bearings.

“Is that really important right now?” Rhodey descended, landing with a thunking sound in the center of the store, accidentally knocking over the few remaining shelves. The others had all been dismantled when Tony blasted his way through the building.

“Sorry about this, kid. Cap, ready to go?” Tony asked, apparently not recognizing the looks that the two men were sending each other. 

Although, Steve had never told his team he played for both teams. He didn’t figure it important, not when Natasha was so focused on setting him up with whatever vapid woman she could find. True, he probably should have mentioned it sooner, but the world ending kind of took precedence. Besides, now that Bucky was (hopefully) a fixture in his life, Steve wouldn’t have to worry. 

“I’m sorry about… all of this.” Steve murmured, for once glad that he was the only with enhanced senses on the team.

“Like I said, insurance will cover it.” Bucky ducked his head, fiddling with a display with bookmarks in it. Steve grabbed one, a simple paper one with various pride flags covering it. He also snagged an arbitrary pen and scribbled down his number, holding it out with an almost too-earnest expression in his hopeful eyes. 

“Even so… Here. If you… if you want me to help in some way. Either with repairing the store, or… or we could finish our earlier discussion?” Steve knew he was fumbling, knew his face was bright red, but he really hoped Bucky would accept his offer. Bucky smiled down at the bookmark, holding it lightly in his hands. He looked back up at Steve and felt his heart flutter. And unlike the superhero in front of him, he knew it wasn’t cardiac arrhythmia. 

“I’d love that.” Bucky held the bookmark to his chest, right over his pounding heart. Steve smiled hard enough that it hurt, harder than he ever had before and after coming out of the ice.

Later, after Tony and Rhodey both landed on the top of the Tower and deposited Natasha and Steve, Sam sauntered up with an evil smile. He bent slightly to press a kiss to Natasha’s forehead before they both trained their eyes on Steve.

“Well, this is a new development.” Natasha mused, the barest glint of amusement in her eyes. Steve rolled his own to the ceiling.

“Not really. I just never told you guys I was interested in both.” Steve shrugged, setting his shield down against the couch and flopping his entire body down onto it. 

“Might have been nice to know.” Sam sat as well, body angled towards Steve.

“Why do you think I kept mocking you when we met? It’s the only way I know how to flirt, and I thought you were cute.” Steve pulled his phone out of his uniform pants and set it on his thigh, waiting urgently for any sign of Bucky.

“Wait, you what?” Sam spluttered, eyes widening in shock.

“Not important, just accept that he thinks you’re cute and move on. His name?” Natasha questioned, perching on Steve’s other side, balanced on the arm of the couch in a move that shouldn’t have been possible, but because it was Natasha it was. 

“Bucky. I didn’t get his actual name.” Steve pouted at that. Natasha and Sam shared a look over Steve’s head.

“Huh. Well, best of luck to you.” Sam was still reeling from the idea that Steve thought he was cute.

“Can I plan the engagement?” Tony asked, appearing from nowhere and lounging back on the love seat. 

“Too late, I’ve already claimed rights to that.” Clint piped up, hobbling in on crutches from his most recent mission.

“But I’m your best man, right?” Tony asked, eyes narrowed at Steve. The soldier opened his mouth, but was quickly interrupted.

“As if, I’m clearly going to be the best man.” Sam scowled, eyeing the billionaire.

“Nope, that’s already taken by me.” Natasha spoke up, her boyfriend’s head swiveling so fast Steve was worried about the whiplash.

“Nuh uh, I’m Steve’s best friend, ergo I’m his best man!” Sam edged forward in his seat, ready to defend his title.

“You can officiate the wedding.” This, Natasha said to Tony. The man smiled, pleased at having something to do.

“Okay, but who’s going to walk Steve down the aisle?” Clint suddenly asked, coming up for air from the pizza he had been demolishing in the kitchen.

“Pepper,” the other three called back, apparently very well decided. 

“What about Peggy?” Tony wondered.

“First dance privileges.” Sam answered, still miffed about his spot as the best man being stolen away from him.

As the others debated and argued about Steve’s fictional wedding, the blond looked down as his phone lit up with a message.

Hey, this is Bucky. You up for coffee and a lot of questions?

Steve leaned back into the couch, already typing out a message with a smile bright enough to light Manhattan glowing on his face. 

Maybe those freaky reptiles were secretly matchmakers. 

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments appreciated!


End file.
